Ether Rose
by coolgamer
Summary: Years have passed since Zael and Calista returned the outsider to the heavens, now they face another threat to their peaceful island. A threat that brings back old foes, but also may be too much for them to handle. Set 22 years after the game ends.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So I've wanted to do this story for a while! I absolutely love The Last Story but was unsure of what to do for a fanfic, then I started playing Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora's Tower and had a brilliant idea for the story.**

**Summary: Years after the outsider is released a new plan is set into motion to take over Lazulis Island from deep within the empire, can Zael and the others figure out a way to save the Island before it's too late?**

**Chapter 1: A Plan Set In Motion**

A figure hidden in the dark shadows of the dungeon room smirked as they looked upon their new captives. Pleased to see that it didn't take long for the two men to come to, though one of the men's whining as he complained about being mistreated was very irritating. The figure found it surprising that the other man never spoke a word as he sat up, only stared in the direction that the figure hid, as if knowing they were there.

The figure began to speak in a melodic female voice, but one that held a hint of danger in it, "You two have finally awakened, we were beginning to worry that it was too long after your deaths to revive you."

"So you are a necromancer then I assume? Either that or we never really died, but I'm almost positive I did," The quiet man finally spoke, a small laugh leaving his lips at the end as he stared in her direction still.

"I see you still have the snarky attitude I had heard that your team of mercenaries possessed, even after you betrayed them," The women drawled not amused at the man's response.

The annoying man finally spoke up, "Where am I? Who are you and what do you want with me! I refuse to be kept in such a place! Do you know who I am? I am Lord Jirall and to be treated this way-"

Before he could continue he heard something smash as the woman began to walk closer. She glared in the man's direction as she stepped into the light, bits of glassing falling from her fist along with blood from the glass bottle she had smashed in annoyance at the man. Her raven hair illuminated by the few candles in the room and her silver eyes seeming to glare into Jirall's very soul.

"I know who you are and you would do well not to anger me. I am the one that raised you from your grave, and I will not hesitate to put you there again," The woman warned.

Jirall gulped, "You wouldn't release the spell after resurrecting me, and wouldn't that have been a waste on energy?"

The necromancer smirked as she realized the spoiled noble actually knew things about mages, "My dear noble, the type of necromancy I used is a very different form. It's used only by my cult by those very well practiced," She stressed the word practice as she moved closer to the two men, "There is no spell cast over you anymore, you are allowed to live till you die of natural causes or are killed," She explained.

"How is that possible?" The mercenary asked.

"Well my dear Dagran, let's just say that my group was able to obtain some of the very rare outsider stones that still remained in our world after it left this place. It was very hard to find and very expensive as well, but that aside, when you mix the Heart of the Outside, the Light of the Outsider, and the Particle of the Outsider into a potion then you get the ability to grant someone life again. We were very fortunate that the potion was able to be used on two of you, we were sure we would only have enough for one of you."

Dagran stared at her, wondering what this woman was planning with having resurrected Jirall and himself. The woman smirked at him as if reading his every thought, and she seemed to enjoy his confusion. Luckily Jirall seemed to understand that now was the time to be quiet, for once, and to not anger their captor.

Dagran frowned, "So get on with it. What do you want from us?"

"Well since you two are the ones that were so bent on helping the Gurak destroy Lazulis Island we naturally thought you two would be better to use to help us in our plan, at least better than some stupid Gurak," She began.

"Zangurak was the one wanting to start the war," Dagran spoke.

"Ah but didn't you control his strings Dagran dear?" The necromancer asked.

Dagran frowned at that and before he could reply Jirall spoke, "So what is it you want?"

"I want you two to help me destroy Lazulis Island and bring it under the command of those within the empire."

Dagran gave her a confused look, "But the empire has never felt any ill will towards Lazulis Island in the past."

"That was in the past dear, but now that the citizens of Lazulis have united with the Gurak those in higher positions of the empire wishes them to be taught their proper place," She explained with a bored sigh.

"What do we get out of this?" Jirall demanded.

"Well first off you get to be alive again," The raven haired woman stated, "Secondly I'm sure you my lord would love to see that mercenary that wormed his way into the castle put back into his proper place."

Dagran's eyes widened as he realized who she may be speaking of before Jirall spoke, "You mean that brat Zael? The one who ruined everything for me?"

"Of course, he's practically at the center of everything that happens in Lazulis now. He's even taken the spot that you were meant to have, wouldn't I be a pleasure to take everything that he cares for from him? The castle, the town, and maybe even his lovely wife, Lady Calista?" She asked, knowing Jirall would agree.

"Yes! I'll do it!" Jirall shouted gleefully at the thought of taking his revenge.

The woman turned her attention to Dagran, "You my dear mercenary finally have the chance to take revenge for your family's death, you can take this world by storm with our power, and what do you say?"

Dagran looked at her in thought then closed his eyes, "You have a deal."

The woman smirked, "Splendid, you leave immediately, and I will be in contact."

With that said she turned to leave the room, her mages cloak flowing behind her as she made her exit. Dagran could only watch her leave and lock the door, ignoring Jirall's annoying muttering next to him as he thought about what he just agreed too. He turns his attention to the ceiling, thinking about what would happen when he saw Zael again after his death.

_~Lazulis Castle Library~_

A book fell to the ground from the large, uneven stack on the table. A very lightly tanned hand reached down to pick the book up, placing a finger to keep the page that it had fallen open on. As the small hand brought it up and was placed back on the table, a girl in a light dark blue dress with white sleeves retook her seat at the table.

Silver bangs just barely fell in front of her chestnut brown eyes as she scanned the page in interest. She blinked as she found it to be a book about the outsider, not having realized she had picked the book up. She read the passage about the outsider's powers and even what the different parts that remained in their world could do. As she finally went to put the book back she felt a shiver run down her spine, and she spun around as if someone was watching her.

She clutched the book to her chest feeling that it was important and fled from the library back to her bedroom, not bothering to look back, as a figure entered the library and quietly so as not to be seen, unaware of the girls fleeing form.

**End Chapter 1.**

**I hope you all liked the chapter! The necromancer plot seemed really fun, and who wouldn't like the idea of Zael kicking Jirall's ass again? All will be explained in due time, I wanna introduce my readers to the world set after the war. **

**Also for anyone who can guess who the girl at the end is I'll give you…pure tealeaves! Did anyone see what I did there? The hint to who the girl at the end is in the statements I made at the beginning. **

**Till Next Time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I hope you guys all liked the last chapter! I apologize if any of the characters seemed a bit OOC! Especially Dagran, I tried my best…my last gaming moments of him are the final boss fight. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Last Story or any other video games that may be mentioned in this story. **

**Chapter Two: A Normal Day**

Birds flew through the air around the castle as the sun rose higher, and the morning drew on for those of Lazulis Island. While many of the occupants would rather be asleep then up and about, there was work to be done and little time for them to do it all. The occupants of Lazulis Castle had been up and about, doing their jobs dutifully and without any trouble. Only a few had yet to awaken, and they slowly awoke to join the others in the daily duties.

A girl stood from her bed, her silver bangs framing her face as the longest parts reached just past her shoulder. She walked to her desk and reached for her brush, bringing it through her hair in a quick sweep, only stopping at the ends due to knots. Her hair in the back was layered from the top of her head to just a bit past her shoulders. She moved to her dresser, slipping off her pure white night dress as she grabbed a white shirt, before pulling her blue dress with gold lining over it and fastening her brown belt around her waist.

As she slipped on her white sandals she noted the book she carried the night before on her bedside table. She picked it up and looked at the cover deep in thought before having a strange sensation come over her. She walked to her dresser and pulled open the bottom drawer and carefully placed the book inside. Reach into the top of the dresser she pulled out the key for the drawer and locked it. After this she moved to her desk and locked the dresser key into the desk drawer, feeling a sense of relief come over her as she did this.

Not a moment later there was a knock on her door and a polite female voice spoke before she could answer, "Lady Elena, your breakfast is awaiting you in the dining room."

Elena moved to the door in a slow manner, remembering to keep her posture straight in front of those that worked in the castle. She opened it to reveal a maid and the maid upon seeing Elena bowed dutifully and moved out of her way. Elena smiled at the young girl as she nodded her head in thanks and closed her bedroom door behind her as she left.

Elena made her way from the royal housing hall down the stairs leading to the audience hall and past the entrance for the audience hall and down to the main floor. She walked along the extravagant halls smiling at all she met as she made her way to the dining room. She finally reached it but was sad to notice she was the only one in there at the moment. She sat at the table and ate her breakfast before a maid approached her to ask if she needed anything else.

"I do not need anything at the moment," Elena replied politely and ladylike.

"Very well my lady," The maid bowed and turned to leave.

Elena called for her to stop and waited for the maid to turn to her, "Do you know where my family is at this time?"

The maid looked in thought for a moment, "Lady Calista is in her office working on paperwork, Ser Zael is training with the knights, and I believe Lord Dunban is with him as well. As for Lady Fiora I believe she is either still asleep or she may be out in town, I have not seen her yet this morning. Oh and Lord Shulk is in the library awaiting your teacher."

Elena sighed, "Very well, thank you."

The maid bowed again before leaving the young lady to her own devices. Elena having finished breakfast stood and began making her way to the main part of the castle, intending to find her family members to at least wish them a good morning before going to do her own thing.

As she entered the main hall from the bridge connecting the royal chambers she looked over the railing, smiling as she saw how many people were in the castle at the moment. It took her a moment to recall that today was the day her mother met with the people to hear their complaints. With that in mind Elena made her way to her mother's office, which was just down this hall.

Elena knocked and almost instantly a warm loving voice replied, "Come in."

Elena entered the office, closing the door behind her as she did so. She glanced at the desk where her mother sat, looking over various papers and not noticing who had entered. Elena observed her mother, the lovely Lady Calista. She had obviously gotten her silver hair from her mothers, but preferred to keep it short when her mother preferred it to reach her lower back.

From the stories that Elena heard her mother hasn't changed much in the twenty two years that followed the war. Some of the minor changes that differed now from her past descriptions were that Calista's long hair was now tied into a ponytail to keep it better under control and out of the way. She wore a simple black dress with blue around the edges, though Elena knew her mother had many dresses similar to that one. Her brown eyes traveled to her mother's face, noting that despite being the age of 41 her mother had aged very gracefully, and only if you looked close could you tell the countess had a wrinkle or two from old age.

Calista finally looked up and smiled as she saw her youngest standing there, "Elena."

"Hello mother, how are you this morning?" Elena asked moving to her mother who had stood from her seat.

"I am doing well, and how about you? Did you get enough sleep?" Calista asked giving her daughter a hug.

"Of course I did, why do you ask?" Elena asked slightly confused at her mother's question.

Calista smiled, "Because I remember hearing you running through the halls to return to your room, I assume you were in the library late last night?"

Elena nodded, knowing she couldn't hide anything from her mother, "Yes…sorry…"

"I am not mad, just please try and get plenty of sleep," Her mother said in a worried tone.

"I will," Elena promised as her mother sat back at the desk, Elena made her way to the door before looking back at her mother, "By the way there are a lot of people in the entrance hall."

Calista sighed, "Thank you for informing me dear, I hadn't realized it had gotten so late in the morning."

Elena nodded respectfully before leaving her mother to her work and heading down the stair case directly near the office before heading though the door leading to the courtyard. She paused contemplating stopping to watch the flower but shook her head, heading around the courtyard and to the military wing. She entered the vast part of the castle and noticed knights surround the area before the elevator. She shook her head as she began making her way towards the large crowd.

She stopped just behind some men as she noticed it would be hard to push her way through the crowd. She sighed trying to figure a way out when she heard a voice softly call her name. She turned and smiled as she saw her older brother coming towards her from where he stood in the back row.

Her elder brother had brown hair with a few strands of different colors, just like their fathers, though his looked almost black, that came past his shoulders. She laughed at her brother's new knight's attire; it was strange seeing him wearing his uniform. His attire consisted of grey chainmail underneath silver and grey colored armor with blue belt straps. His boots were blue with grey bolts on them and armor to protect his shins.

"Morning Dunban," Elena greeted as her brother reached her.

Dunban smiled at his sister, "Same to you, did you come to say morning to dad?"

"I did, but I can't get through the crowd…" Elena mentioned as she glanced at the group of soldiers.

Dunban chuckled before gently taking his sisters hand and guiding her through the crowd whenever he saw an opening. He was gentle but swift so that the knights didn't push Elena as they moved to look at the fight better. When they finally got to the front, Elena saw her father deal the final blow to a soldier, sending the man onto his back.

Elena watched her father as he helped the soldier up, smiling as he did so. His brown hair came to his shoulder and had a bit more grey in it then it did before. His steel colored eyes stared seriously at the soldiers as he issued orders to them about their training method or duties for the day. When his eyes landed on Elena and Dunban his look softened as he dismissed everyone in the room. He made his way to his children, his jacket flowing behind him, open and giving Elena a good look at the simple shirt he wore underneath. His outfit was complete with pants that were definitely form fitting; her father still wore clothes that didn't benefit a knight.

"What are you up to this morning?" Zael asked as he reached them.

Elena smiled, giving her father a quick hug, "Not much, I was just coming to say good morning to you and Dunban before I head to my lessons."

"Did you already say hello to your mother?"

"Of course," Elena laughed.

Zael was about to continue speaking before he heard his name called out. He sighed, realizing he was needed and knew he couldn't continue to dally. He smiled at Elena again and patted her shoulder as she smiled back.

"You better get going before Otharon gets mad that you're late," He said.

Elena nodded, "Of course, you two be careful now."

Elena swiftly left the two men's side and as she made her way down the hall she faintly heard her father giving Dunban his orders. She exited back into the courtyard and headed back inside the main building and made her way upstairs and to the library. She stopped briefly as she realized she had yet to see her sister anywhere. She sighed hoping her sister hadn't cut out of their lessons again that day.

As she entered the library she noted with a sigh that her sister was indeed not there. The only one in the library besides the budding mages was her adopted brother, Shulk. While their father had been away on a mission he had found Shulk as a small child, the boy's parents having been killed in a monster attack while traveling.

Shulk had short blonde hair and blue eyes, though he hadn't looked up due to him being too engrossed in a book. He wore a long sleeve black sweater and a red vest over it, along with red shorts. His boots lightly tapped the floor as he read the book intently, pages being turned quickly.

"Shulk?" Elena asked as she approached him.

Shulk's attention snapped to her, his eyes showing that he was startled, "Oh…Elena…sorry I didn't know you had arrived."

"It's alright, what are you reading?"

Shulk looked at the book, "It's about the technologies we have, such as the globe for the library and the cannons and how they work with magic."

"I see…" Elena commented, not too interested in the mechanical aspect of such things, though she knew the idea fascinated Shulk.

"I hope to one day be able to find a way we could use magic to advance our abilities, there is only so much we can do at the moment…but there must be a way," Shulk muttered going off into his own little world again.

"Quite right you are," An old voice spoke.

Elena turned and smiled as she saw their teacher, Otharon come into the room. The man was getting on in his years but he still kept going, and could still deal a beat down to the soldiers of Lazulis Island. Elena knew very little except that Otharon had lost his family in the war when her father was a child, and that he had been her mother's teacher.

"Harnessing our abilities to the fullest extent will greatly help us in the future, you just keep looking for a way boy," Otharon said to Shulk who only nodded.

"So what are we learning today?" Elena asked as Otharon stood in front of the table they sat at.

Otharon looked them over, "Seeing as you're coming of age ceremony is coming up soon we should go over the political ladder again."

"Why?" She asked looking slightly confused.

"Because once the ceremony is over you will be eligible to become the next ruler just like the rest of your siblings, therefore the empire will become aware of your status and you must be aware of theirs."

Elena could only nod as she remembered that to be true. Otharon had always discussed the current political ladder when Dunban, Fiora, and Shulk had all come of age. It was to keep them all informed and aware of what was happening around them.

"The Argannan family has ruled over Lazulis Island for centuries, the most recent lines being your grandfather and great-uncle as the previous counts. Now the current countess is Lady Calista and though Ser Zael does not hold the title of count he is considered as such," Otharon began.

Shulk watched Otharon, "What of the current heirs?"

"Smart to bring up that topic. Dunban is the first in line for the title, but that does not mean he will get it, now he has no partner as of yet so the empire may have their eye set on the countess position. Fiora is second in line and like Dunban she has no partner, therefore they can also take the count position should she become the heir,"

"Why is it so important that they have no partner?" Elena asked.

"Because dear child, marriage is a political matter, if the empire has one of their own family marry into the Argannan line they will then have access to the island."

"Doesn't it work the same way though?" Shulk questioned.

"No, that is only if the Argannan family marries into the Impirial family."

"So say Dunban marries the heir to the throne then the Argannan family can have a bit of power?" Elena asked.

Otharon smiled, "Exactly, but if one of the Imperial family marries the Argannan heir, then they have power over the island."

"Political marriages are confusing…" Shulk muttered.

Otharon chuckled before pulling out a few pieces of paper from his book. He laid them on the table for the two to see. Elena recognized the structure of a family tree and knew it was time to get into the royal family of the empire.

"The current Emperor is Zanza Arglas; he has two sons Dickson and Mumkhar, though Mumkhar lost his life in the war years ago. They are the children from his first consort; he has a daughter, Lady Lorithia, with the current Empress Yumea. So technically the empire has two heirs at the moment, but it looks like Lord Dickson will take over."

"Why can't Lady Lorithia take over?" Elena questioned.

"It's not that she can't, she just has no interest to," Shulk explained, having read the research documents from the empire.

"Correct Shulk, now there are two other heirs as well, but they come after Lord Dickson in the order of rights to the throne. They are the children of Emperor Zanza's sister the late Lady Meyneth. The first is Lord Egil who is the most likely candidate next to Dickson, and then Lady Vanea."

"Are any of the heirs married?" Elena asked.

Shulk looked at her, "Lord Egil is engaged to Lady Linda one of the empire's researchers. Lady Vanea is not engaged to anyone neither is Lord Dickson. Lady Lorithia is also not engaged to anyone, so that adds another candidate."

"Candidate?"

"Yes my dear, Vanea could be their piece for Dunban's marriage, or Lorithia could be. Now they could also have Dickson marry Fiora or you, but seeing as he is the first heir, they wouldn't put him up like that. That would require one of you to lose your position."

Elena held a hand to her head, "My head aches…this is all so confusing."

Shulk chuckled, "Don't think too hard on it, just worry about the ceremony; it's only a few days away. Besides I doubt you'll have to worry about political marriages."

Elena blinked confused, "Why do you say that?"

"No reason," Shulk said as he stood and left the room.

Elena glanced at Otharon but saw him going over the documents and she sighed. She stood knowing that their current lesson was finished. She exited the library to leave the old man in the room to concentrate on his reports. She approached the balcony and leaned against it, trying to figure out the new position she was about to take in a few days.

_~On the Cliffs of Lazulis Island~_

Dagran stared down at the city from their position on the cliffs, feeling a sense of foreboding come over him. He knew getting into the middle of a power struggle was bad, and it was one he had hoped to avoid, or at least be on top of. He ignored Jirall's mutterings as he turned and headed for the trail leading down to the city.

**~End ch. 2~**

**Again sorry if Dagran is a bit OOC, or Zael and Calista. I'm still trying to figure out how Zael and Calista would act 22 years later. **

**So for those of you who have only played the Last Story I added a several characters from Pandora's Tower and Xenoblade Chronicles, that is because they were all part of the same localization project and are often noted to be together. **

**So to begin my explanation we'll go over how old everyone is from The Last Story. First how I determined their age is that I looked up several people's guesses on the main characters age and found a middle number that sounded good. **

**Zael: 43**

**Calista: 41**

**Lowell: 50**

**Syrenne: 49**

**Yurick: 39**

**Mirania: 44**

**Therius: 49**

**Horace: 66**

**Meredith: 59**

**Ariela: 47**

**Warren: 29**

**Now as for the character introduced I'll give a quick introduction to them, though some I'll do a bio of later on. **

**Lazulis Island: **

**Dunban – He is currently 21 years old, born a year after the events of the game, and is Zael and Calista's eldest child. He is from Xenoblade Chronicles and is kind of the mentor member of your team; he is also Fiora's older brother.**

**Fiora – She is 17 and born 5 years after the game, and is Zael and Calista's second child. Like Dunban she is from Xenoblade Chronicles and is Dunban's little sister, and is the main love figure for the main character. **

**Shulk – He is 17, being the same age as Fiora, and is Zael's adopted son. He is the main character of Xenoblade Chronicles and his main love interest is Fiora, I put him as her adopted brother though because in Xenoblade Chronicles Shulk is adopted by another character as a child. Also Shulk is very smart in Xenoblade, and is a researcher so I kept him in that same spot.**

**Elena – She is 15, born 7 years after the game, and is the final child of Zael and Calista. She is the heroine of Pandora's Tower, I made her slightly quieter and lady like because that is how she is in Pandora's Tower.**

**Otharon – is also from Xenoblade Chronicles, and while he isn't a teacher he is the leader of an entire colony that was attacked. I figured he was a good strong figure to making a small appearance. **

**Empire:**

**Zanza – the god of the Bionis from Xenoblade Chronicles, I figured he would be a good Emperor.**

**Dickson – He is Shulk's adoptive father in Xenoblade Chronicles and Dunban's friend in Xenoblade.**

**Mumkhar – Though he won't appear much, He is also from Xenoblade Chronicles and he completed Dunban's team from Xenoblade. **

**Meyneth – the God of the Mechonis from Xenoblade chronicles, hence why I put her as Zanza's sister. **

**Egil – the leader of the Mechons, the enemies from Xenoblade Chronicles.**

**Vanea – Egil's sister in Xenoblade Chronicles.**

**Lorithia – a member of the High Entia race in Xenoblade Chronicles, and she has a rivalry with Dickson so I chose her as a possible heir.**

**If you guys haven't played Xenoblade Chronicles it's a great game! Here is a summary:**

**The protagonist is an 18-year-old young man named Shulk, who lives in Colony 9 at the start of the game's main story. When the colony is attacked by the Mechon, he obtains the legendary energy blade called the Monado, thought to be the sword of the Bionis eons ago, and leaves to initially stop the Mechon threat.**

**And for those who haven't played Pandora's Tower:**

**The game focuses on Aeron and Elena, who live in the Kingdom of Elyria, located in Imperia. Elena is chosen to sing at the kingdom's Harvest Festival but during her performance, she is suddenly cursed and transforms into a hideous beast. Aeron must complete the towers to remove Elena's curse.**

**Both of these games are great, and I love them. **

**This chapter was way longer then I had anticipated…I just wanted to put so much in! **

**So for the question last chapter, the girl introduced at the end was Elena. For those of you that have played Pandora's Tower you'll probably know that Pure Tea Leaves are a gift you can give Elena. **

**Also if anyone is interested the title of the story comes from Xenoblade Chronicles it's an item you find randomly.**

**Reviewer's Corner:**

**Lopmion-12: You guessed right at daughter of Zael and Calista. I hope you'll continue to read and I hope this wasn't too confusing!**

**Cormag Ravenstaff: Thanks for the review; I hope this chapter didn't seem confusing. I'll try to get better at Dagran, my friend was borrowing my copy of Last Story and she wasn't in a hurry to read this story so I didn't have her insight on Dagran.**

**Please review and see you next time!**


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